Dear Home Ec 101: I recently purchased some used (softside, Samsonite) luggage, which it like new, but has apparently been stored in a closet. It is dusty and I’d like to know the best way to clean it. ~ It’s in the Bag Heather says: I checked the manufacturer’s website and mild soap and water …
Dear Home Ec 101: Recently my son spilled a bottle of Downy on the wood floor in our den. Now, no one in our family can go in that room because of the smell. What can we do? ~Fumin’ in Fullingham Heather says: What a headache! The perfumes responsible for your odor problem are suspended …
Dear Household Goddesses, My nearly 2 year old daughter is many things. She is a clever, fearless, climbing artist who uses the world as her canvas. As hard as we try to keep any and all writing instruments away from her, she seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to finding stray pens …
Dear Home Ec 101: A few years ago, I used what we believed to be a dry erase marker. Indeed, I think if I’d immediately erased it, it worked fine. But I didn’t. I left the grocery list up for a while and when I finally bought something from that list, I discovered that it …
Dear women-in-the-know, I’ve spent my summer at a summer camp and have gotten my money’s worth out of my double stroller. It has endured bugs, kids with dirty diapers, and lugged pounds worth of stuff, but it has also contracted mildew. I’ve heard to use tilex and hose it off. Is there a natural way …
Dear Home Ec 101:The other day, I set a wet a receipt on the bathroom counter to dry. (The cat has gotten a bunch of things wet.) It was one of those older fashioned ones with purple ink. The next morning, I discovered I’d put it ink side down and now had a nice copy of the receipt …
Ivy says: Do you get paint all over you when you’re painting your house? I sure do, and in odd places like my knees and my shins. Don’t ask. So, how to get all that paint off without resorting to mineral spirits or other things that are harsh on your skin? I use a rock. …
Dear Home-Ec 101, My daughter has a grass stain on her pretty little, made with love by Grandma, Easter dress. How can I get it out before we see Grandma again? My 13 year old dog has recently urinated on our carpet, for reasons unknown to us. How can I get that horrible odor out …
Dear Home Ec 101: OK ladies. I have a question for you! Our house was built in 1968 and we have the original wood cabinets in our kitchen. We bought our house in 2000 and they had just been painted white. Today? They are not so white. They are covered in a lovely “kitchen/grease/film.” Help! …
Please help me, ladies! We’ve been in our new townhouse for about eight months. We have neutral-colored wall-to-wall style carpet in our living room. There are a couple of stains from who knows what – beer spillage, chocolate drool from a friend’s happy baby, etc. I spot-treated them (the stains, not the babies) and sometimes …